


As Long As There Are Stars Above You

by madneto



Series: Mutant Operatives Division [2]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Domestic Bliss, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 08:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9874739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madneto/pseuds/madneto
Summary: One bright morning in March, Charles forms plans to go to the park with his fiancé Erik and enjoy the lovely weather while getting some work done.Erik, however, has other plans.(Set approx. seven months after the events of the main story. Can be read as a one-shot.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Officially written at the urgings of leepala and black--betty on tumblr... although I'm always thinking about how I want to add more to this 'verse honestly.

Normally, Charles was not a morning person. He wasn’t exactly a night owl either – although Erik would probably disagree with that assertion, from the frankly alarming number of times he’d had to come out to their living room hours after he himself had turned in to drag Charles away from a project or editing a journal article or grading papers, forcing him to go to bed – but it was the truth.

Mostly, Charles liked doing things. He liked getting up early if it meant taking a day trip to the beach with his fiancé, his sister, and her girlfriend on his day off. He liked staying up late if it meant playing chess with Erik while binge-watching Parks and Rec, sipping beer and eating late night pancakes, kissing the syrup off Erik’s lips. It was true that Charles slept in often enough, but that was because his job often kept him up to the wee hours, and who wouldn’t sleep in, given the chance? Besides, one of the first things he and Erik had purchased when they moved in together was the most luxurious pillow top mattress they could find, and Charles would be damned if he wasn’t going to spend his mornings getting every last penny’s worth out of it that he could.

Of course, Erik was very different in his mindset. Years and years of training himself to be a weapon rather than a human being meant that he often still woke with the sun, leaving their bed earlier than any person should to go for his morning jog. But he was getting better. Slowly but surely, Charles was reminding Erik that it was okay to enjoy some of the finer things in life, and more often than not, instead of waking to an empty bed and a “Went for a run. I love you” note on the bedside table, Charles was nowadays waking to the sound of Erik cooking breakfast, or on those very special occasions, to Erik still in their bed, pulling Charles closer to nuzzle sleepily into his space.

But that bright, lazy Saturday morning in March, Charles woke to the rarest of all Eriks: the still sleeping Erik. They had fallen asleep on their respective sides the night before, connected only by their intertwined ankles, but sometime during the night, Erik must have turned so he was spooning Charles instead. That’s how he was now, anyway, as Charles’ mind slowly slipped into consciousness, and he blinked blearily awake, Erik’s arm around his waist and his nose in the back of Charles’ neck.

Almost immediately upon waking, Charles’ telepathy spooled outward as it did every morning, stretching just like all of his other muscles. His mind brushed up against Erik’s and he confirmed what he’d already guessed from Erik’s breathing; he was still out like a light. Charles smiled, closing his eyes once more against the sunlight peeking in around the blinds, and snuggled backwards a little so he and Erik fit more tightly together.

It was the week before spring break, and Charles was starting to feel it as much as the students, staying up late grading almost every night in a mad bid to get it all done so he too could have some time off. Last night he’d finally managed to make it to his last pile of papers for his last class and he was determined to reward himself with a little lie-in before going back to the grind this afternoon. Perhaps if it was still as nice outside as it appeared to be after breakfast he and Erik could go to the park and he could finish grading there. Certainly a change of scene would do him good.

He was still musing about nothing in particular when he heard a sharp intake of breath that signaled Erik’s usual abrupt return to consciousness just at the same time that his thoughts sprang to attention. Erik tensed for a moment, the arm around Charles stiffening. Then, with a resigned sigh, he relaxed, his thoughts turning a bit less annoyed now that he realized he was in bed at home, wrapped around Charles.

:: _Good morning_ ,:: Charles sent gently.

“Mmmmnnfff,” Erik replied, burrowing further against him, his breath tickling Charles’ skin.

Charles smiled. He reached back with one hand to curl his fingers softly through Erik’s hair while the other linked with Erik’s hand resting against his stomach. Erik groaned again, though this time he sounded considerably less displeased, and he nosed gently at the notch of bone jutting up at the base of Charles’ neck. They lay there for a few minutes, Charles petting at Erik gently as he slowly came more and more awake. Charles braced himself for the inevitable moment when Erik would decide enough was enough and pull away to get up and make breakfast. But instead, even as his mind turned to its normal, neatly ordered conscious state, Erik curled closer, clinging onto Charles with a doggedness that was rare for this early in the morning.

:: _Everything all right?_ :: Charles asked, pausing. It didn’t happen so much anymore, but there were still nights where Erik had trouble sleeping and woke restless and jumpy.

“Yeah,” Erik said, his voice scratchy from disuse. He shifted, dropping a kiss to the hinge of Charles’ jaw and then another behind his ear against his hairline.

Cautiously, Charles dipped a little deeper into his mind just to read his surface thoughts, but he found Erik was telling the truth; his thoughts were nothing but serene, quiet, and tinged just slightly with something like consideration, although what for Charles quickly pulled away from. Erik was entitled to his privacy, after all.

“I can feel you looking, you know,” Erik said pointedly.

“I know,” Charles answered, sending him an apology: _just wanted to make sure, stubborn, don’t have to suffer alone._

Erik snorted, the air ghosting out and ruffling Charles’ hair, but he wasn’t angry. Instead, he began pawing at the side of Charles’ hip, scooting back so there was a bit more space between them, a request for Charles to turn around, so Charles did.

Erik’s eyes were soft and fond when Charles finally met them, and the beginnings of a smile played at the edges of his mouth. Charles raised a hand and smoothed down a cowlick that was sticking up on the side of Erik’s head from sleep, and the twitch of a smile widened, turning into the real thing. Unable to hold himself back any longer, Charles leaned forward to give him a proper good morning kiss. He’d intended for it to be a short peck, but before he could pull away, Erik cupped a hand to the back of his neck deepening the kiss into another and another, and when they were forced to part for air, he lingered close enough to Charles that their foreheads rested together.

“You’re being very love-y this morning,” Charles remarked. “Not that I’m complaining, of course.”

“Can’t I be happy to see you?” Erik asked.

Charles laughed. “I hope you’re always happy to see me, darling,” he said, “but normally you don’t indulge in the feeling quite so much before breakfast.” He gave Erik another swift kiss before pulling back so he could look him in the eye. “Speaking of, I was forming some plans for the day before you woke up, if you’d like to hear them.”

“Okay,” Erik said. “Shoot.”

“Well, I still have tests from the excavation methods class to grade,” Charles replied, taking up Erik’s hand and entwining their fingers as he spoke. “They shouldn’t take me more than an hour and a half or so to get done, but I was thinking we could take them to the park and make a day of it. You could bring your book and I’ll have my tests and afterwards we could break out the chess set or something. It’s supposed to be a lovely day.”

Erik looked to be turning the plan over in consideration as he scooted up to brace himself against the headboard, Charles coming with him, their hands still linked together. He waved vaguely at the window with his free hand, and the metal blinds snapped open, light flooding the bedroom properly. He nodded slowly.

“It’s does look nice outside,” he said, but he paused, obviously on the verge of saying something else.

Confused, Charles tried another tactic. “Or we don’t have to go to the park if you don’t want to,” he went on. “We could wait until I’m finished grading and go to the Highline and get some food at Chelsea Market. We could take it home and make dinner or something.”

“No, the park sounds good,” Erik replied. He paused again, chewing on his lip.

“… But?” Charles asked.

“Well, I was just wondering if we could do something else first.”

“Oh,” Charles said, brightening. “Do you want to get brunch somewhere?”

“I want to get married.”

Instantly, Charles felt his mouth drop open, everything freezing for one suspended moment before reality kicked back into gear again in double time, Charles’ heart thumping, adrenaline racing through his veins with exhilaration. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know this day was coming eventually, but for it to suddenly be _here_. Charles beamed, clutching Erik’s hand tighter.

“Today?” he asked, still not quite believing.

“Yeah,” Erik replied. He grinned back. “What do you think?”

“Yes!” Charles said at once. “Yes, of course! Of course!”

He lunged forward, pulling Erik down for another kiss. Erik smiled into it, his arms wrapping around Charles’ waist once more, pulling him almost onto his lap. Charles went more than willingly, closing the rest of the distance by swinging a leg over Erik’s to straddle him, and for many long minutes they stayed that way, kissing lazily, occasionally laughing for no reason at all other than sheer happiness until the other one started cracking up as well and the kiss turned into more laugh than kiss. Finally, after what felt like no time at all, Charles paused, pulling away with a frown.

“Hang on,” he said, fingers trailing up and down Erik’s shoulder. “As much as I want to, we can’t get married today. We need a marriage license and there’s a waiting period for those.”

“There is,” Erik said. “Twenty-four hours.”

“So we can get married tomorrow.”

“No, we can get married today,” Erik replied, grinning even wider. “I got one on Thursday.”

Charles gasped, scandalized and amazed, and Erik tossed his head back with a bark of a laugh. “Your face,” he said around a chuckle.

“You bastard, you’ve been planning this!” Charles said, poking Erik accusatorially in the chest. Erik nodded, grinning smugly. “The nerve… Since when?”

“Just since Tuesday,” he answered.

“Since Tuesday?” Charles replied, his eyes widening as he realized.

Erik nodded again, picking up Charles’ hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “Since the fight.”

And what a fight it had been. It had building for almost two weeks. Both of their jobs had been especially grueling lately, with the Mutant Operatives Division bringing in six more recruits than Erik had expected and the big break coming up at the university. With the extra hours at work, they hadn’t been able to see each other much other besides at breakfast and occasionally late at night when one of them would stagger home just as the other was heading off to bed. The strain made both of the cranky, and to add to the problem, the household chores had also fallen to the wayside for a few days, resulting in a few snappy text messages back and forth about forgetting to take out the trash as promised or leaving dishes out for the other to pick up when they were supposed to be rushing off to work or wanted to be heading to bed.

With the impending doom of their mutual frustration mounting and mounting, on the previous Tuesday night, Charles had specifically set aside time from grading to cook Erik a nice dinner as a peace offering and apology. He’d texted Erik to make sure that he’d be coming home early enough, and Erik had responded that he’d definitely be home in time for dinner.

And then six o’clock had rolled around, and Erik wasn’t there. An hour more passed with still no sign of him, and no text, and then another hour until Charles, standing in the kitchen, fuming over his silent phone, had decided fuck it. It had taken him over an hour to make the garlic chicken and the pasta salad and if Erik wasn’t going to appreciate it, fuck Erik, too. Charles had turned off his phone. Then he went ahead and ate slightly more than his portion, tried to grade tests for another hour or so, gave up and ended up taking a long bath and watching Netflix without taking any of it in before slouching off to bed, the cold abandoned supper still laid out.

Charles had still been awake when Erik got home half an hour later. His mind was a tangle of remorse and frustration, but Charles had quickly jerked his power away, still very angry and more than a little hurt. He’d heard Erik’s shoes shuffling against the hardwood floor as he walked into the kitchen and paused, seeing the dinner still laid out. Charles had counted the seconds in the pause – one, two, three, four – before Erik turned and stomped into the bedroom, throwing the door wide.

Then the shouting had started. Erik accused Charles of trying to punish him by leaving the dishes and food out and by turning off his phone and cutting off communication. Erik claimed that his texts hadn’t been sending in the basement bunker where he’d been training recruits, and that he’d been trying to contact Charles since his meeting with MacTaggart and the CIA director had gotten out an hour late. But Charles had been far too furious to believe him. He’d told Erik that his excuses weren’t good enough and that if Erik had really wanted Charles to know where he was, he would have found a way to contact him. Then he’d brought up the angry texts from Erik a few days previous calling him a slob for leaving his mugs out, and said if Erik was going to call him names like a child anyway, he might as well earn them.

The screaming match had gone on almost until midnight, until the both of them were starting to get hoarse. But eventually, after they stopped throwing around accusations with such zeal, they’d begun to really listen to each other for the first time in weeks. Erik had sunk down to sit at the foot of the bed and Charles had followed him, and after a while, they’d ended up holding each other. They’d both promised to be more open, and to be more insistent about finding time just for the two of them, not matter how many extra projects the Department Chair wanted to pile on Charles or Moira wanted to pile on Erik.

Finally, when they’d been silent for a while, Charles had said quietly into the junction of Erik’s neck and shoulder, “Wow. Our first big fight.”

Erik had chuckled quietly, and held him a little tighter. “Probably not our last,” he’d replied, and Charles had snorted too.

“No,” he’d agreed. “Probably not.”

Soon after that they’d apologized to each other again, and Charles had insisted on staying up with Erik while he finally ate and cleaned up. Any tentativeness Charles had felt about the situation melted away that night when he and Erik sank into bed, arms around each other and minds equally intertwined, and woke up the next morning just as close.

“You remember what you said when you asked me to marry you?” Erik said, back in the bright Saturday morning. “You said we didn’t have to get married right away. That you were going to prove it was the right thing to do, even when we fought. Even when we had bad days.”  He turned Charles’ hand over, cradling it between his own, caressing Charles’ skin with a gentleness he hardly ever showed to anyone else. “We still love each other, and that’s what matters.”

Swallowing, Charles nodded, squeezing Erik’s hand back. “That’s all that matters,” he agreed. Slowly, Charles leaned forward once more, capturing Erik’s lips in a soft, lingering kiss before pulling back to smile across at him.

“Well, then,” he said quietly. “Let’s shower and get dressed and eat, and I’ll call Raven to be a witness and we can go get married.”

Erik smiled, his eyes soft and thoughts warm as he gazed at Charles. “And then we’ll go to the park?”

Charles smiled back, slipping off the side of the bed to stand and offering Erik a hand up as well. “Yes,” he said. “Then the park.”


End file.
